Curtis Brown, better known by the stage name Grandmaster Caz or Casanova Fly, is an American rapper, songwriter, and DJ. He currently works as a celebrity tour guide for Hush Hip Hop Tours, a hip-hop cultural sightseeing tour company in New York City, and is a Board member of The Kennedy Center's Hip-Hop Council, Hip-Hop Ambassador and Board member for Windows of HipHop and CEO of GMC Entertainment Inc.
Career
Caz first encountered rap in 1974 at a Kool Herc block party. Shortly after, he teamed with DJ Disco Wiz under the name Casanova Fly to form one of the first DJ crews, Mighty Force. Caz was also the first rapper to perform both DJ and MC duties. In the late 1970s, he joined The Cold Crush Brothers. Caz admits that he himself stole new equipment during the New York City blackout of 1977. He currently hosts Hush Hip Hop Tours, the official sightseeing tour of Harlem and The Bronx. Caz was interviewed for the documentary Just to Get a Rep released in 2004. In 2008, he was one of the participants at the Cornell University Library conference on Hip Hop. Artists who cite Grandmaster Caz as an influence include Will Smith, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Jay-Z and many more. In 2015, Caz featured on a single by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis named "Downtown".
A 2009 book claims that the lyrics for The Sugar Hill Gang's seminal "Rapper's Delight" were plagiarized from the then-unpublished Caz's lyrics. In 2000, he set his account of the controversy in the song "MC Delight". He claims in the song that he wrote the lyrics of Big Bank Hank, who had been the manager of his band, but never received any royalties or thanks for it. Jackson himself substantiated these claims as he neglected to change his verse on "Rapper's Delight" to reflect his own stage name, instead of beginning his verse with the now famous, "Check it out, I'm the C-A-S-A-N, the O-V-A, and the rest is F-L-Y." Casanova Fly is Grandmaster Caz's alternate moniker. This controversy is referenced in episode 3 of part 2 of The Get Down. While listening to Rapper's Delighton the radio, The Get Down Brothers' member, Boo, tells his date that Grandmaster Caz is rapping the line and says that Caz is the "nicest MC around".
Recognition
In 1998, Caz was listed #11 out of Blaze Magazine's Top 50 MCs of all Time. He was also inducted into the Technics DJ Hall of Famein 1999. In June 2008, Grandmaster Caz was inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame. A street plaque bearing his name is now on permanent display on the Grand Concourse, the most famous thoroughfare in the Bronx. Grandmaster Caz was portrayed by Jaleel White in the Drunk History episode "American Music".
Discography
Albums
The Grandest Of Them All Tuff City 1992
You Need Stitches: The Tuff City Sessions 1982-1988Ol' Skool Flava 2004
